BookSpeak Network

Sensitivity, or being "A Sensitive" is a difficult prospect. Rev. Dr. Laura Palmer examines the tools and techniques offered by historical figures in her book, Celebrating Sensitives: What Can We Learn From Historic Sensitive Persons About Being an Empowered Empath.

By examining diverse historical characters, Palmer shows how these individuals became the people known to world history. In this book personalities and figures such as Frederick Douglass, Nikola Tesla, Abraham Lincoln, Princess Diana, and even Adolf Hitler and J. Edgar Hoover are profiled. Palmer discusses the environments these individuals were placed in, and how the sensitive person is shaped by these situations.

Laura Palmer holds a PhD in Holistic Life Counseling from the University of Sedona and is accredited as a Reiki Master Teacher. The owner-operator of Sacred Science Energy in Evergreen, Colorado, Palmer enjoys helping highly sensitive persons find and embrace their inner strength and power. 

The saying, "There are no words," often comes to mind at the time of the unthinkable, including the sudden death of a child. Elizabeth Brady, however, notes there are words, in this collection of essays, Oil for Your Lantern: Sharing Light After the Death of a Child on the Scriptoria Press imprint of Sunbury Press Books.

Brady lost her young son Mack on New Year's Eve 2012. Speaking with Sunbury Press founder and host Lawrence Knorr, Brady examines the practical, cultural, and spiritual aspects of mourning a beloved child.

Elizabeth Brady is an Associate Professor at Penn State University. Her essays can be read on Motherwell, Modern Loss, Open to Hope, and Compassionate Friends. She has participated in several of the latter group's conferences and served on the content advisory board for the documentary Speaking Grief.

More than 150-thousand interments and entombments have taken place at Calvary Cemetery in Pittsburgh. The 200-acre site dates back to the mid-19th century and was officially established by the Pittsburgh Diocese of the Catholic Church in 1886. Of the many, the lives and graves of some of these, the famous, the unknown, and the infamous, stand out.

Edward Bonner grew up in Hazelwood, Pennsylvania. In his new book, The Final Resting Place -- Calvary Cemetery, Bonner discusses how the cemetery was a part of his early life, and how his curiosity led to deep research to find out about just who these people were, and their connections to Pittsburgh and the region.

Among those discussed, are actor and impressionist Frank Gorshin (best known as The Riddler in the Batman TV series), former Light-Heavyweight boxing champion Billy Conn, and the Biddle Brothers, whose crime career, escape from death row and their final reckoning are stories in themselves. Bonner also traces down the unknown, many buried without markers and those he has taken an emotional interest in.

Edward Bonner is the author of several books about the region, including Hazelwood: A Community Story, Historical Madness, and Purple Dawn: Poems. 

An employee of United and US Airways for more than 32 years, Bonner is a sports enthusiast, participating in triathlons, and coaching youth sports. 

While numerous films, TV shows, and books have been written about Vietnam, J. Richard Watkins offers a personal tale of his military experience, and how this shaped his life, in "Vietnam, No Regrets -- One Soldier's Tour of Duty." 

Watkins pulls no punches in this interview with Sunbury Press Founder Lawrence Knorr. He discusses growing up in Brockton, Massachusetts, and how his decision to join the US Army out of high school and his request for combat assignment were easy. Watkins discusses details only fellow soldiers would know, such as the identifiable report of the AK-47, why the bandages Watkins and his fellows carried were meant to be for them alone, and sage advice an officer gave him about leaving what he experienced on the battlefield.

J. Richard Watkins served in the 25th Infantry Division during his tour in Vietnam, rose to the official rank of Specialist Four, and won 16 Service Medals. A constable for the City of Brockton until his retirement in 2001, Watkins serves as a Eucharistic Minister and is active in veterans' organizations, including the VFW, DAV, and ITAM.

Brook Lenker recalls his boyhood years in Central Pennsylvania for "The Arbiters," his second novel and debut on the Milford House imprint.

Set in the 1970s, Reily Watters and his gang of teenage compadres prefer their time outdoors to being in school or sports practice. Their favorite spot is the near-sacred Mannequin Creek, where years of hiking and fishing are coupled with growing up and the discoveries of youth.

When a dam project threatens to wipe the watershed out, they fight back in their own fashion and battle a bumbling developer to save what's important.

Brook Lenker is a lifelong outdoorsman, explorer, and conservationist. Currently the President of the Keystone Trails Association, in Mechanicsburg, Lenker is a graduate of Towson University with a degree in Geography. His protagonist Reily Watters first appeared in his 2019 novel, "The Restorers." He lives in South Central Pennsylvania.

What was life really like for most Americans in centuries past. T. N. Pollio brings to life the diaries, letters and personal memorabilia to paint that picture, in “Voices from Early America.” 

The writings and notes of our ancestors does not always portray what we think the early decades of the US was like. From these, we find that while our forebears lived in a different time with often more difficult circumstances, their emotions, their joys and sorrows, plus their achievements can be understood if we take that time. “Voices…” examines the lives and times of our fellow citizens from the Colonial Period to just before the Jazz Age.

An historian living along the coast of Southern New England, T. N. Pollio is the author of two books on ancient and medieval jewelry—WorldCat lists these in nearly 900 academic libraries across the world. “Voices…” is Pollio’s debut work for Sunbury Press.

In her second release for the Ars Metaphysica imprint of Sunbury Press Books, Pattie Fields discusses how you can navigate personal crises and challenges and find your way forward.

“Freedom Now: Transform Your Life Experiences into Miraculous Moments” offers teachings provided through Fields’ spirit guide, Neshea, about the transformation of the present moment into power. Topics in the book include expanded states of consciousness, manifestation, relationships, and self-awareness. 

Patti Fields offers instruction and guidance through her website. Her first book, “Dreaming Miracles: Spiritual Messages That Help and Heal” is also available through Ars Metaphysica.

Humanity is on the verge of a consciousness transformation. Author L.E. Maroski believes a change is required in the language we use.

Through models, meditations, and the observations of deep thinkers, Maroski combines her background in philosophy, psychology, and science with the spiritual to present a possible vision.

"Embracing Paradox, Evolving Language: Expressing the Unity and Complexity of Integral Consciousness" is available on Untimely Books, and she discusses the possibilities on the Brown Posey Press Show.

L.E. Maroski studied philosophy and psychology at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. She also is the author of the 2006 novel, "The One That is Both." You can find out more about her here.  

The life of Andrew Paige Turner and his partner have ended, but Paige soon realizes his journey has only begun. In Steven R. James' debut novel, "A Soul's Final Journey: Everyone Calls Me Paige," the reader is taken back through a life Paige must view once more.

The setting is a small college in Maine during the 1980s. We meet the usual suspects of campus life, Paige's roommate Josh, his girlfriend Patty, and the scheming and possibly unstable Michelle. We also meet the mysterious foreign student, Antonin, who helps Paige unlock that part of himself he still denies. With the HIV/AIDS crisis (and the backlash against the gay community and those perceived to be) at its height, Paige must live a double life, which leads to decisions and trauma as painful as his passing.

With the help of John, a real-life mentor, Paige looks back at his past, and begins to see the possibilities in "A Soul's Final Journey," which can be purchased here.

A native of Massachusetts, Steven R. James studied Music Theory at Berklee College of Music and has also worked as a real estate agent. Initially staged as a play, "A Soul's Final Journey" is what James intends to be the first of a three-volume series. He lives in Oakland, Maine.

Sometimes losing your children is the only way to save them...

It is 2039, and Joan Bennett's sheltered world as a wife and mother has fallen apart. Her husband and sister have died of a mysterious illness, and Joan herself is infected.

On the run from government hitmen, Joan must take her five children on a desperate road trip to reach Canada. As she travels, Joan and her kids must battle numerous obstacles, and Joan may need to make one final decision.

Ginny Fite returns to the Sunbury Press Books Show to discuss her latest novel, "Sanctuary." An award-winning journalist, Fite has authored eight novels, along with collections of short stories and poetry, along with humorous essays on aging. Her work has appeared in "The Delmarva Review," "Women Arts Quarterly Journal" and the "Anthology of Appalachian Writers." 

A graduate of Rutgers and Johns Hopkins Universities, Fite has received several award nominations and won the FAPA Gold Medal in fiction for her work "Thoughts & Prayers." You can find out more on her website.